CLAYSBURG — Several families living in the Claysburg-Kimmel School District are sending at least some of their children to other school districts to take advantage of better athletic programs, according to a district resident who spoke before the school board in September.

Chris Burket told the board at its Sept. 13 meeting that he heard some students were attending neighboring school districts while their siblings remained at Claysburg-Kimmel. He also said the reverse is true, too — that some students living outside the district are attending Claysburg-Kimmel schools.

Athletically-motivated transfers — where a student living in one school district transfers to another district to take advantage of a sport — are illegal, according to the PIAA constitution and bylaws.

The bylaws define athletically-motivated transfers as student transfers between districts that would not have occurred but for a “desire of the student or the student’s family to gain additional playing time; to play for a particular school, coach or team; or to gain increased media or college exposure.”

The PIAA rules include a list of situations that could “indicate athletic purpose,” including a student wanting to join a less successful team to rank higher or join a more successful team to “gain a high level of competition and/or more exposure to college scouts.”

Jeremy Knott, vice president of the Claysburg-Kimmel board, spoke on the subject after the board’s Oct. 4 meeting.

According to Knott, community members allege that a family is keeping their daughter at Claysburg for softball and Future Business Leaders of America, while their son is attending Chestnut Ridge School District for wrestling.

It is also alleged that the family purchased land in the Chestnut Ridge School District, thus providing a district address for the student.

Knott said that he had recently been told that the Bedford Area School District was experiencing the same issues as Claysburg.

“I know that I have had people tell me that these things are true about other districts having trouble with people leaving to go to Chestnut Ridge as well, but I don’t have that factual information for certain,” Knott said.

Chestnut Ridge Superintendent Kyle Kane said that he was aware of the allegations against the district and denied that it received any known athletically-motivated transfers.

“How enrollment works here is much like how it works in other places,” Kane said. “We have them fill out all of the documents and provide proof of residency, like an electric bill with their address on it.”

Kane said if a question comes up about someone being enrolled inappropriately, home visits would be conducted to confirm that the student does live in the district. He added that he believed he knew which students Knott was referring to and that he had been able to personally confirm those students live within the Chestnut Ridge district.

“We’re not going to compromise our district; we’re going to do things the right way,” Kane said. “We make visits to ensure that kids go to school where they sleep. If you want to go to school in our district, you have to reside here or we’ll unenroll you.”

Bedford Assistant Superintendent Brian Thompson echoed these sentiments, saying that student transfers are something that happens “in general” and that it is “up to the district to determine that there is athletic intent.”

“The stance we take, as a PIAA member district, we uphold those laws regarding athletic intent transfers,” Thompson said. “Whenever we have compelling evidence that shows athletic intent, we are governed by those bylaws and we follow them up with the information that we have.”

Each case is handled individually as “each one has their own set of circumstances,” Thompson said.

Uptick in cases

A recent case of a school transfer that the PIAA District 5 ruled was for athletic intent involved Bedford Foundation Christian Academy student Haydan Webb.

Webb’s family sought to transfer him to the Christian academy and play football for Chestnut Ridge, because that school and Ridge have a sports agreement, District 5 Vice Chairman Jeff Batzel said.

Webb was found ineligible to participate in the 2023-24 athletic season due to the ruling, Batzel said, which he believes will be appealed at the state level.

“The Bedford Foundation Christian Academy has a cooperative agreement with Ridge to play sports,” Batzel said. “Bedford claimed the transfer was for athletic intent based on some informational documents that they had compiled and presented to the hearings panel.”

The Webb family claimed that they were transferring Haydan solely for academic reasons but that the hearing panel ruled against them, Batzel said.

Webb will be eligible to play football and baseball again starting in the 2024-25 athletic season.

Finding that a student transfer was made for athletic intent is “pretty rare” in District 5, Batzel said, adding that there have been about four hearings in eight years.

Batzel said that athletically-motivated transfers have been “a little more of an issue” in recent years and that, of the 20 years he’s been on the committee, he hadn’t seen a case until 10 years ago.

“My opinion is that parents have become more and more involved to the point of not supporting coaching decisions but look for where the grass is greener for the child,” Batzel said. “A lot of it is in pursuit of excellence or college scholarships. Rarely do you see the average or below average players transfer for athletic intent, it’s usually the kids who are, or feel that they are, elite.”

Batzel said that, while he is aware of the “Claysburg situation,” it is his understanding that the students are at the elementary school level, which isn’t covered by the PIAA. The PIAA governs athletics from grades 7-12, according to its website.

“That’s the school districts’ to police,” Batzel said of elementary transfers.

Batzel stated that no school district has been accused of recruiting athletes from other districts.

Impact on school budgets

Knott said that these rumors were concerning because of the potential impact it could have on the district’s funding from the state, which gives Claysburg about $11,000 per student on average.

He pointed to the district’s recent staff cuts, saying that the suspected number of athletically-motivated transfers out of Claysburg could potentially add up to someone’s salary.

“If there are students living outside of our district, we are discussing a process for which people can report this to us and these can be addressed in a uniform manner,” Knott wrote in an email. “Our board and I are not in support of outside residents fraudulently claiming they live in the district nor are we in support of our residents fraudulently claiming they live somewhere else to leave the district.”

Claysburg-Kimmel Superintendent Brian Helsel could not be reached for comment.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.